[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 230 (Wednesday, November 27, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60281-60283]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-30467]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-5656-3]
Proposed CERCLA Administrative Cost Recovery Settlement Pursuant
to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and
Liability Act; Manistique River/Harbor Site, Manistique, MI
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.
ACTION: Notice; Request for public comment.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with Section 122(i) of the Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, as amended
(``CERCLA''), 42 U.S.C. 9622(i), notice is hereby given of a proposed
administrative cost recovery settlement concerning the Manistique
River/Harbor Site in Schoolcraft County, Manistique, Michigan. The
settling parties are listed in the Supplementary Information portion of
this Notice. The settlement is designed to resolve the settling
parties' liability for polychlorinated biphenyl (``PCB'')-contaminated
sediments located within the Site. The settlement requires the settling
parties to pay $6,419,037 to the Hazardous Substances Superfund. The
settlement includes an EPA covenant not to sue the settling parties
pursuant
[[Page 60282]]
to Sections 106 and 107 of CERCLA, 42 U.S.C. 9606 and 9607; Section
7003 of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, 42 U.S.C. 6973;
Sections 7, 16 and 17 of the Toxic Substances Control Act, 15 U.S.C.
2606, 2615 and 2616; Sections 309, 311 and 504 of the Federal Water
Pollution Control Act, 33 U.S.C. 1319, 1321, and 1364; and Sections 406
and 413 of the Rivers and Harbors Act, 33 U.S.C. 406 and 413. The U.S.
EPA's authority to enter into this administrative settlement agreement
is conditioned upon the approval of the Attorney General of the United
States (or her delegatee). The settlement agreement has been submitted
to the United States Department of Justice for such approval.
For thirty (30) days following the date of publication of this
notice, the Agency will receive written comments relating to the
settlement. The Agency will consider all comments received and may
modify or withdraw its consent to the settlement if comments received
disclose facts or considerations which indicate that the settlement is
inappropriate, improper, or inadequate. The Agency's response to any
comments received will be available for public inspection at U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, 77 West Jackson Blvd., Record Center
7th Floor, Chicago, Illinois 60604. Commenters may request an
opportunity for a public meeting in the affected area in accordance
with Section 7003(d) of RCRA, 42 U.S.C. 6973(d).
DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before December 30, 1996.
ADDRESSES: The proposed Administrative Order on Consent (``AOC'')
embodying the settlement agreement and additional background
information relating to the settlement are available for public
inspection at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5,
Superfund Division Record Center, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, 7th Floor,
Chicago, Illinois 60604. A copy of the proposed AOC may be obtained
from Deborah Garber (address see below). Comments should reference the
Manistique River/Harbor Site, Manistique, Michigan.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Deborah Garber, Office of Regional
Counsel, Mail Code CS-29A, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 77
West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
A. Background
The Manistique River is located in Schoolcraft County in Michigan's
Upper Peninsula. The river flows from the northeast and discharges into
Lake Michigan at the City of Manistique. The Manistique Harbor is
carved out of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the river by a breakwater
system which is maintained by the U.S. Corps of Engineers. The river
and harbor have been and continue to be used for recreational purposes,
including sport fishing, boating and swimming. The Site consists of the
bottom sediments within the Harbor and within a 1.7 mile stretch of the
Manistique River immediately upstream from its discharge point into
Lake Michigan. PCB contamination of the sediments within the Site was
discovered in the 1970's. Historically, lumbering/sawmill, paper
milling and other industrial operations were located on the banks of
the river and discharged wastes into the river. Most of these
operations ceased many years ago and the entities conducting them no
longer exist. Currently, the only active manufacturing operation along
the river banks adjoining the site is Manistique Papers, Inc (``MPI'').
The Edison Sault Electric Company (``Edison Sault'') maintains a
substation on the west bank of the river, south of MPI. A scrap yard
has operated on the east bank of the river since the 1960's.
Beginning in 1993, U.S. EPA has taken and will in the future take,
removal actions pursuant to CERCLA to address the threat to human
health and the environment posed by the PCB-contaminated sediments
within the Site.
The Site is being addressed under CERCLA removal authorities
pursuant to the Agency's Superfund Accelerated Cleanup Model (``SACM'')
Program. In 1994, two of the settling parties--MPI and Edison Sault
conducted an Engineering Evaluation/Cost Analysis (``EE/CA'') pursuant
to an Administrative Order on Consent, to investigate the extent of
contamination within the Site and to evaluate response action
alternatives for the contaminated sediments. During the summers of 1995
and 1996, U.S. EPA conducted a removal action to dredge and dispose of
PCB-contaminated sediments from a hotspot within the river portion of
the site, referred to as Area B in the proposed AOC.
Beginning in the summer of 1997, U.S. EPA will dredge and dispose
of contaminated sediments in a second area located in the River (in
1993 EPA placed a temporary cap over this area) and a third 15-acre
area within the Harbor (referred to as Areas C and D respectively, in
the proposed AOC).
B. Settling Parties
The parties to this proposed settlement agreement are: Manistique
Papers, Inc. (``MPI'') (owner and operator of the paper mill since
1991); The Old Mountain Company, Inc. (the corporate successor to the
long-time previous owner/operator of the paper mill); Edison Sault
Electric Company (``Edison Sault''); The United States Coast Guard;
Kruger, Inc. and Hicliff Corporation, parent corporations to MPI;
ESELCO, parent corporation to Edison Sault; and the City of Manistique.
C. Description of Settlement
The proposed settlement is a ``cashout'': MPI, Edison Sault and The
Old Mountain Company, Inc. have agreed, jointly and severally, to pay
to the Hazardous Substances Superfund $6,401,000. The U.S. Coast Guard
will pay $18,037 to the Superfund. These monies will be placed in a
special interest-bearing account to be applied toward reimbursement of
U.S. EPA's costs of implementing the response actions at the Site. The
other entities and the City of Manistique would be allowed to be
signatories to the consent order without payment of additional monies;
they would, however, give covenants not to sue to the United States and
its agencies relating to the response actions taken at the site. In
addition to this cash settlement, MPI has entered into an agreement
with U.S. EPA (``Access and Services Agreement'') to allow use of
portions of its real property for construction of treatment and storage
facilities which are needed for the response actions as well as other
in-kind services, which U.S. EPA values at approximately $1 million.
The Access and Services Agreement, embodied in a separate
Administrative Order on Consent, will become effective on the effective
date of this Agreement. A copy of the Access and Services Agreement is
included in the background information relating to this settlement. The
total estimated cost of the response actions taken and to be taken at
the Manistique River/Harbor Site is $17.1 million. The settling parties
would contribute $6,418,000 in cash and $1 million in in-kind services
under this settlement. In addition they have spent $1.5 million to
complete the EE/CA, for a total of $8.9 million. Thus, the settling
parties would pay approximately 50 percent of the total estimated costs
of the response actions for the Site. The U.S. EPA has the option to
pursue other non-settling potentially responsible parties for
additional reimbursement of site response costs.
[[Page 60283]]
Dated: November 20, 1996.
Richard C. Karl,
Acting Director, Superfund Division.
[FR Doc. 96-30467 Filed 11-26-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P